


Three Small Steps

by konpeito_galaxy



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Domestic, Canon Compliant, Domestic Fluff, Drabble Collection, Established Relationship, Humor, M/M, Multi, Unrequited Crush, each drabble needs its own set of tags tbh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-18 08:52:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16991886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/konpeito_galaxy/pseuds/konpeito_galaxy
Summary: So an astronaut, a detective and a supreme leader walk into a bar...A collection of Saioumota drabbles written for submitted prompts.Drabble 1: A triangle of unrequited pining (canon-compliant)Drabble 2: The floor is lava (domestic AU)Drabble 3: Everything at home is quiet. Too quiet. (domestic AU)





	1. One-way Triangle (Unrequited, canon-compliant)

**Author's Note:**

> A little warm-up! Canon-compliant.
> 
> Prompt from: Kokichi first realises his attraction to Shuichi (of course) Shuichi first realises his attraction to Kaito and Kaito first realises his attraction to Kokichi, simultaneous obliviousness and pining ensues while also eventually realising their attraction to the other person. Disaster ot3.

“Ouma-kun - evaded you again, huh?”

 

“A-Ah?” Kaito, gaze upwards towards the heavens as always, gave a small start. Serves him right, Shuichi thought wryly, and he sat up fully to match his workout partner. As usual, Kaito was slacking in his exercise. And as usual, Shuichi let it slide.

 

“I was looking for you after lunch,” Shuichi said. “I couldn’t find you. But Ouma-kun said -”

 

“You _talked_ to him?”

 

“He, erm, h-he found me.” Kaito was bristling, and Shuichi heard him mutter something that sounded suspiciously like, ‘ _that fucking guy_ -’ under his breath. Would this be the appropriate time to give him a pat on the back, for reassurance? His fingers twisted in the grass and he felt the moment slip away with every beat of his heart. _Damn_.

 

“Ouma does that a lot, huh? Bother you, I mean.” He could feel Kaito’s eyes on him before he had even turned his head to look and he fought the urge to curl in on himself. “He always seems to pop up near where you are at some time or another. You gotta tell him to back off if you need to, you know? Though if you need me to do it too, I can, bro -”

 

“It’s fine. Really.” His fingers dug into the soil and tore through the roots. The dirt was surely staining his hands. “H-He… he’s said some weird things, but he’s mostly harmless outside of the trials. I… I think. We’ve mostly - had tea together, played card games. Things like that.”

 

Kaito rubbed his goatee. “Tea and card games.”

 

It did sound a bit off, saying it out loud. “Yeah.”

 

“… Huh.”

 

They sat in heavy silence for a moment. Shuichi chanced another glance at him. There was always something going on in his friend’s head, despite what some of his classmates would have him believe - and a small, wicked part of him delighted in the idea that he was often at the forefront.

 

Kaito seemed to come to some sort of conclusion because with a sudden loud bark of laughter he clapped Shuichi on the back - _so effortlessly,_ Shuichi marveled, _without even a moment of hesitation_ \- and beamed at him.

 

“Alright Shuichi - if you’re okay with it, then I am too. But -” he punctuated with his words with fists smashing together, and his expression turned fierce, “if that changes, I’ll definitely confront him! You’re _my_ sidekick, you know! I won’t let him steal your time away from us like that!”

 

There was no stealing Shuichi away from Kaito now, but that thought alone sent his stomach twisting in painful knots distinct from the exercise cramps. So instead he answered, “Of course. Y-You… You’ll be the first to know.”

 


	2. The floor is lava (domestic Fluff AU)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They try to get chores done (oh my god do they try)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Domestic AU prompt - full description at the bottom.

There was shouting echoing down the hallway when Shuichi stepped off the elevator to their shared apartment’s floor. What were the chances the noise wasn’t from the most obvious suspects?

  
With every step he took, the voices became more recognizable and his feet began to drag with the usual resignation. ‘ _This_ _is_ _it_ ,’ he thought, that slow creeping anxiety washing over him, ‘ _this_ _is_ _the_ _day_ _we_ _get_ _kicked_ _out -‘_

  
“- your dumb fashion sense isn’t my problem, Momota-chan! If your coat touches the floor, that’s it! You’re done-zo!”

  
“If the floor was actually lava, I wouldn’t burn up just because my sleeve touched the floor! Stop making up stupid rules!”

  
“It’s not very _manly_ to be a sore loser -“

  
Shuichi didn’t hear the end of the sentence over the creak of the door opening, but he was treated to the sight of Kaito perched on couch, stripped bare of its cushions, chucking his wadded-up jacket across the room. It sailed wildly to the left of Kokichi, balanced delicately on a step stool, who looked frighteningly delighted by this turn of events.

  
“Ooooh, too bad! Looks like your jacket has been lost to the fiery pit forever!”

  
Shuichi cast his gaze across the room. The clothes he had left for them to wash were scattered everywhere - potential ‘safe spots’ for their game, or more casualties along with Kaito’s jacket perhaps. Their current state of cleanliness was definitely in question. Shuichi hadn’t taken his shoes off yet. He could still turn around and walk right back out the door.

  
“Oh good, Shuichi, you’re home!” Ah, damn it. Kaito had noticed him. “Finally! I need you to tell’im, man - tell him that my sleeve touching the ground doesn’t count if my arm’s not in it!”

  
“Well, uh, I -“

  
“Whoa, hold on there!” The moment Kaito had spoken his name, Kokichi’s eyes were on him, shining as bright as always. “Think before you talk! Impartiality is key in a life-or-death game like this! The fate of the whole world rests on your decision, you know?”

  
“Ah, e-erm -“

  
“Oi! Don’t put that kind of pressure on him! He’s probably tired from work! Besides, there’s no way he’ll take your side on this -“

  
“Look, I just -“

  
Kokichi leaned over the step stool as far as he could manage, wagging his finger at Kaito all the while. “Time to admit defeat. We’ve got the world’s greatest detective here! He sorts through the testimony of the guilty for a living - you think he won’t be able to see through how weak your argument is? Tell you what, though - if you get on your knees and beg for mercy, I might not throw you into an actual lava pit for losing!”

  
“You _little_ -“

  
“Did _either_ of you actually do the laundry!?” Shuichi finally shouted.

  
For the first time since he arrived, there was silence. Absolute, guilty silence. And then -

  
“… I did it all by myself! But then mean ol’ Momota-chan threw the clothes all over the floor and challenged me to a duel! Of course I magnanimously declined because I would totally wipe the floor with him, so then he challenged me to thi -“

Kaito let out a strangled noise and nearly jumped off the couch at Kokichi’s safe haven before pausing, apparently calculating the distance between him and one of the fallen cushions, and settling for shouting, “You both damn well know that’s a lie!”

  
“I - you know, it, it really doesn’t matter.” Shuichi pinched the bridge of his nose and reminded himself, with a long-suffering breath out, that he had chosen this. Incomprehensibly, he had _chosen_ this. “Let’s just clean everything up together, okay? Please?”

  
Kokichi blinked owlishly at him and Kaito looked away, sheepish. And then, after casually hopping back to the floor, Kokichi begun scooping up clothes.

  
“Okay ~ ! That’s all I’ve wanted to do since the beginning, anyway!” He picked up an errant sock and clicked his tongue. “Jeez. And to think all of this could have been done hours ago if _someone_ wasn’t so competitive.”

  
“You just pick up your stuff,” Kaito said through gritted teeth, “and I’ll pick up mine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt in question: ‘You can’t leave Kaito and Kokichi alone for five minutes. On days where Shuichi works but Kaito doesn't and Kokichi’s not busy with his organization, Shuichi often comes home to find the couch cushions on the floor and his boyfriends standing on the furniture shouting dramatic nonsense at each other. They somehow managed to turn what was supposed to be a basic task into an intense game of 'the floor is lava'.’


	3. Shuichi Saihara and the Domestic Disturbance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: One time Shuichi comes home and everything is quiet, the house is clean and Kaito and Kokichi attempted to make dinner. But this never fucking happens so immediately he's suspicious. It turns out that earlier that afternoon they broke something valuable while having a nerf gun war in the living room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The best thing is they think they can hide it from him. 8)
> 
> Well, this pretty much wraps up all the prompts I’ve written up so far! Anything else is either in the works or needs to be edited before I’d bring it here. Happy holidays, everyone!

It really was the picture of civility - nay, of domestic bliss. Before Shuichi was a dinner spread - an attempt at one, anyway - displaying such novelties to their household as a rice bowl overlaid with grilled eel, his favourite tea with steam still curling lazily out of the mug, a messily tossed salad, and what looked like rice balls stuffed with pop rocks. He had hardly walked through the door before Kaito had grabbed him around the shoulders and escorted him to the table with Kokichi skipping in their wake, chirping about all the hard work they’d put in for ‘their favourite, hardest working, absolute best detective in the entire world!!!’

  
It warmed Shuichi’s heart to see it. Despite the questionable quality and choices made for the meal, it was clear they had put some real effort into it. And to think they had managed all of this without leaving a trace of chaos or mess!

  
_The entire situation was incredibly suspicious._

  
Fact: Kokichi was smiling blithely as he always did, but had made half of his regular derogatory comments towards Kaito than usual.

  
Fact: The broom and dustbin were tucked behind the door when he first walked in. Kaito had absconded with them both shortly after noticing Shuichi glancing at them.

  
Fact: Kaito had been swaggering about more than usual but also seemed unable to make eye contact with him.

  
Fact: There was a stray nerf gun bullet hidden in the shadow of the kitchen table, just barely visible from his seated angle. There were none others that he could see but just the fact that it was there, when he could have sworn there had been none earlier in the morning, was noteworthy.

  
Shuichi cupped his chin in thought, a pose Kokichi had affectionately dubbed ‘Thinking Time’. The moment he did that, the two guilty parties reacted; Kaito, ever the open book, sat up visibly straighter and clenched his cup. Kokichi’s reaction was subtler, as it always was, but the grin plastered on his face seemed to strain at the edges.

  
Yes - something had definitely happened here.

  
He tucked into his food with that thought still at the forefront of his mind. They had been waiting for his silent permission; without a moment’s hesitation, they began to gobble up their own food, each with a poor man’s version of his own plate. With every spoonful of food Kaito was rejuvenated while Kokichi’s poker face remained firmly in place throughout, and together they both interrogated him about his day with more ferocity than usual.

  
It was a distraction. He parried all of their eager questions with one word answers and vague pleasantries as his mind circled in closer on the answer. There was just one piece missing, he thought. His eyes followed the steam from his tea as he sipped it, the potential items flashing through his mind in short bursts - _wait_.

  
Shuichi put down the cup with a loud clunk.

  
“I have to say - this has been lovely. I can’t believe you two were able to get this organized for me. I’m really… very lucky.” He genuinely mean that. “And you’re right - it’s been a really long day at work. I actually ended up taking a lot of it home with me. I have a bad feeling I’ll be up pretty late tonight.”

  
“Oh, poor Shuichi! I’m so glad _somebody_ works around here.” As predictable as he was unpredictable, Kokichi rounded on Kaito. “Kaito, you need to work harder! We’d be starving to death if it weren’t for him!”

  
“Shut up,” said Kaito on reflex. “That sucks though. Anything else we can do to make it easier for you tonight?”

  
“Well,” and _spring!_ went the trap, “the tea is delicious, but I think I’ll need to get some coffee in my system to really keep me going.”

  
Kaito choked loudly.

  
“A-Ah Kaito - are you okay?” With another loud cough and a shower of rice across the table, Kaito thumped on the table with one fist and wheezed.

  
“Oh, he’s totally fine,” Kokichi chimed in. “I just kicked him hard. Anyway, of course we can make you some coffee. Instant is fine, right?”

  
“What do you mean? You didn’t kick me you little li - _ow!_ What the hell was that for!”

  
“Just making my lie the truth! I know how much you hate liars after all!”

  
“ _Why you -_ ”

  
“Well,” Shuichi said, with as much authority he could muster, “I was actually thinking I needed something a bit stronger. If you’re offering, I’d like to use the vacuum coffee maker Kaede brought back from her last tour in Europe. Do you remember how to use it, or do you need me to show you?”

Kokichi leaned back in his chair, hands interlocked behind his head, and regarded him with sharp eyes. Kaito, having barely recovered from the last choking episode, stopped mid-chew and looked vaguely ill.

  
“That… won’t be a problem,” he said softly, looking back and forth between the two of them, before reaching under the table and pulling the single toy bullet out for all to see, “… right?”


End file.
